noun
-
informal foolish talk; nonsense
-
another name for bologna sausage
Etymology
Origin of baloney
1915–20, 1925–30 baloney for def. 2; alteration of bologna, with substitution of -ey 2 for final schwa
Explanation
Baloney is nonsense. When someone says something completely ridiculous, call it a bunch of baloney. If your friend tells you a unicorn on roller skates ate the last cookie, tell her she’s full of baloney! The word baloney comes from the sandwich meat called bologna, which is typically made of leftover scraps of meat. Around 1920, baloney came to mean "nonsense," and it was also used to describe an unskilled boxer. Use it to describe utter nonsense, not necessarily evil lies, but just words that mean nothing. A politician who spouts clichés but really says nothing is full of baloney, and so is a pretentious artist or a pompous showoff.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Graham Barrows, a financial crime expert and presenter of The Dark Money Files podcast, told the BBC the adverts themselves, and the social media accounts sharing the content, were all "baloney".
From BBC • Jan. 15, 2026
“And he also understands that if you start fooling your shareholders, you will soon believe your own baloney and be fooling yourself as well,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
To non-lawyers, this may seem to cut the baloney mighty thin.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2024
Somewhere on the road between hogwash and baloney, Washington ran into reality.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 24, 2023
Where we’d eat, when we’d eat, who got baloney sandwiches on Day One, who got tuna fish on Day Two, who got peanut butter and jelly on Day Three.
From "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
